“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
Haile Selassie

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Outrage at FSSA; Former ACS Consultant Appointed To Lead Agency

Gary Welsh over at Advance Indiana notes the outrageous appointment of Michael Gargano, a former consultant of ACS, to head FSSA. ACS was a former partner with IBM in the bungled Medicaid privatization effort. IBM is currently the subject of a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by FSSA. As I noted previously and Welsh also notes, the law firm Barnes & Thornburg, received a $5.25 contract to represent FSSA in the lawsuit even though B&T represents ACS and worked on the Medicaid privatization deal on behalf of ACS and other contractors.

In the legal representation contract I linked to on my previous blog post, B&T notes the obvious conflict (which is not waivable under the disciplinary rules) and says in the contract the law firm may have to sue ACS and the other subcontractors they currently represent.. B&T claims it will erect security measures within the firm to ensure that no information gained from the representation of ACS and other subcontractors on the Medicaid privatization matter will be used against those companies. B&T's attempt to explain how it will avoid this nonwaivable conflict of interest is laughable. Of course, B&T is not going to go aggressively go after ACS and risk losing a huge client of the law firm.

According to a later AP story, the Attorney General's Office said that the hiring of B&T was a specific request of the Governor's Office. Betsy Burdick, the Governor's Deputy Chief of Staff, is brother to Brian Burdick, one of the Barnes & Thornburg attorneys who will be working on the deal at $400 plus an hour.

Hmmm, a former ACS consultant now heads FSSA and FSSA is represented in the Medicaid privatization lawsuit by ACS's law firm. Any chance ACS's role in the bungled Medicaid privatization effort will be exposed? Not likely would be my guess. ACS seems to have its bases covered.

About Me

I have been an attorney since the Fall of 1987. I have worked in every branch of government, including a stint as a Deputy Attorney General, a clerk for a judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals, and I have worked three sessions at the Indiana State Senate.
During my time as a lawyer, I have worked not only in various government positions, but also in private practice as a trial attorney handing an assortment of mostly civil cases.
I have also been politically active and run this blog in an effort to add my voice to those calling for reform.